Otherwise, when in Direct-to mode on the GNS, you can see your distance to the fix/airport here:
Or scroll the little knob to the next NAV page, and it’ll look like this:
Keep in mind that those data fields are configurable, so you might have other information there.
It looked like a much more basic system still.
It seemed to just be treating the airport like it was a tuned VOR. I wasn’t paying much attention to the navigation system other than noting we were near class C.
I’ve been trying to get the GNS530 in the sim to duplicate that as it seems useful if you are just flying in and out to the same airport.
Ah thanks! I usually have Nav page 2 on and I didn’t have the data fields turned on.
I kind of like that Avidyne style or using the VOR box as it’s nice and simplistic.
You might also be able to select and see the required airport on the Garmin waypoint “nearest Airport” Nav screen,
On a Dual Garmin 530 / 430 system, you can even do this on the smaller 430, without messing up anything already on and running on your larger , primary active navigation 530.
Absolutely! I think he was saying the NRST screen gets cluttered sometimes, which is definitely true in areas with a lot of airports (or when you’re pretty far away).
Agree on the 430. It’s also nice for doing a big-picture overview. I usually set it up with ETAs, total mileage remaining, and a few other differences.
Very difficult to get lost and not know where you are and what is close to you, with a GPS – but very easy to get distracted playing with a GPS when you should be flying and looking out for traffic !!
You can also push the right knob while in NAV page 2 and hover the cursor over the waypoint/airport. It undocks (uncenters) the aircraft icon, but keeps the bearing and range to the selected item.
Great tips!
I’m practicing basic VFR but wanted to have a quick way for distance and bearing without fussing with the buttons.
If you are just going in and out on a training flight, would you just do direct from the ground to keep it locked in on OBS mode?
I wouldn’t use OBS mode (that’s for making the GPS waypoint act like a VOR with selectable radials). And I’d probably not have anything dialed in direct-to until I’m ready to head back in. Too much nav information can be counterproductive when you’re not using it. Unless, that is, there’s some sort of restriction that I want to stay within.
I’m more just learning about it. I thought it was a neat tool for being able to visualize the runway without loading approaches.
You can kind of use it that way - it’s a little overkill for that particular unit, though. Just keep in mind that on airports in which the airport center/reference point is offset from the center of the runway (due to multiple runways, long runways, parallel runways, etc), it could be a mile or more from the actual extended centerline. In this regard, it’s more meant to get you on a specific heading to the middle of an airport or waypoint, which, again, may or may not coincide with the runway centerline. Think big - IAD, DFW, DEN for where this could be problematic. But using it as a general, big-picture guideline is ok.
Or just use a G1000 or GTN, which can give you the extended center lines (and even electronically-generated visual approach courses and glidepaths) natively. 
Oh yeah, definitely! Sometimes when I’m somewhere unfamiliar I can get totally disoriented as to where the runways are aligned unless I’m on an actual approach proc. I’m looking to have situational awareness get lined up for a straight in from a tower or find a pattern entry without having to program a proc.
But the heading bug is s simpler solution.
In the C172, should both COMs be able to work simultaneously? I’m seeing some strange behaviors when trying to use both.
I’ve also noticed on the G1000 that COM2 usually seems dead.
Yes, both radio can work independently, or at the same time, BOTH receiving, (but in MSFS, only one can be selected to transmit at a time)
ie in MSFS, there is no support for the Pilot to TX & RX on one radio, and the co-pilot to TX &RX on the other at the same time
I’m definitely seeing some issues. It will certainly tune and transmit either comm1 or comm 2, and it seems monitor both freqs. However, if you turn off monitoring of one of them, it seems like you can still hear that freq. As an example, I tuned comm 1 to a local freq and comm 2 to the ATIS. But even if I turn off monitoring of comm 2, I was still hearing the ATIS. You can select which one you want to transmit on by turning the rotary switch on the comm control panel, or by using the ATC box which seems ok. So seems not to be quite right. I’ll try some other freqs while airborne and see what kind of results I get.
Regards
As well as selecting which ONE you TX and RX on, you can also select to also MONITOR the other radio RX only.
So, for example, you might be TALKING to Approach on COM1, Transmitting and Receiving, and have COM2 tuned to your arrival airport’s ATIS.
But you will NOT heard the COM2 ATIS, (even if tuned into it) until you select the option to Monitor BOTH COM1 & COM2 , then you will hear both.
You might also want to , in this case, set the COM2 radio volume LOWER than COM1, so when listening to Atis, if Approach starts talking (to you or anyone else), you hear them clearly over the top of the repeating ATIS,
ATIS you can hear over & over again, in case you miss anything .. ATC get "upset: if you keep asking them to repeat !!
Then thge challenge is to remember what service you have tuned on each radio, and on their Standby.
Modern Glass Cockpit Radios (ie like in the Garmin GTN750 GPS) often display that service name, to remind you.
I think I may have crashed COM2 by trying to tune two ATIS channels for testing. Also, the COM buttons seem like they can get a little off.
I just know when I try to use both radios something always seems to fail. It could just be me.
It also drives me crazy that ATIS always tunes in to the start every time. But that isn’t a WT Garmin issue, just attention to detail. 
Is that for the sim too? The COM1/2 buttons seem to stop working for me. Usually COM1 will work, sometimes when it isn’t even on.
Agreed, and Asobo could so easily have had them start at a random position in their Transmission, which while not Perfect, would appear to be more realistic.
